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Macho Argentina warms to gay dollars and euros

BUENOS AIRES — Home to the sexy tango dance and swarthy meat-eaters, this South American capital has long been thought of as a bastion of macho attitudes. But a new hotel here is adding to the city's growing image as a bastion of gay-friendliness.

The Axel Hotel, a Spanish import, has come to symbolize an increasingly aggressive effort by Buenos Aires to court gay dollars and euros. Earlier this month the city swung its doors open to the Axel, Latin America's first luxury hotel built exclusively with gays in mind.

That Buenos Aires would be chosen for such a marketing experiment is a result of a marked change in the acceptance of gays in Argentine society over the past several years. The city of three million people has come a long way from the years of military dictatorship, when being openly gay could lead to jail time. Five years ago, Argentina's capital was the first major Latin American city to approve legalized same-sex unions, and this summer it was host to a gay football World Cup, a first in the region.

"There is so much more freedom these days," said Mauricio Urbides, a 28-year-old fashion designer, who sipped red wine with two male friends at the hotel recently. "You see gays on television here, in government. Just 15 years ago it was a completely different situation." The three friends were among a mixed crowd of gays and heterosexuals who laughed as Kyra and Sharon, two drag queens from Barcelona poked fun at the Argentine president-elect, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and sang a Marilyn Monroe-inspired "Happy Birthday" to a male guest near the hotel's outdoor pool.

In other parts of the world, such as San Francisco's Castro district, gays have struggled recently to maintain cultural relevance in the face of gentrification. In the Castro, America's largest gay neighborhood, San Francisco's most popular Halloween party was canceled last month, striking a blow to the neighborhood's identity. But Buenos Aires has become more accepting of gays despite having no traditional neighborhood of its own. The first gay bar here opened in 1983, just as the military dictatorship was being toppled. Then in 1992, President Carlos Menem signed a decree promising legal protection for homosexuals.

Argentine social mores began loosening in the 1990s, when the pegging of the peso to the dollar gave Argentines more spending power, allowing many to travel abroad, including Urbides, who said he journeyed to Florida and Sint Maarten. "People traveled and found there were other ways of living that were completely different than what they were used to," Urbides said.

After Argentina plunged into economic chaos in late 2001, discrimination based on sexual orientation seemed like a petty concern. "When people are eating out of garbage cans it really doesn't matter if you are gay or not," said Osvaldo Bazán, a journalist and author of the book "History of Homosexuality in Argentina from the Conquest of America to the 21st Century."

The devalued currency made Buenos Aires a relative bargain for Western tourists, including many gays who liked the city's European sophistication. In recent years, marketers have more aggressively sought to promote the city as a gay tourist destination. Gay tango bars and wine shops have sprouted up, and a new "friendly card" helps travelers and locals alike to get discounts at gay-friendly shops and restaurants. A "Gay Map" lists gay-friendly nightspots and more.

Travel industry experts estimate that about 20 percent of tourists that visit Buenos Aires are gay, or about 300,000 visitors a year that spend $600 million annually in the city.

Even as tourism has been flourishing, so, too, has activism by locals to gain rights for gays and encourage more tolerance. In 2002, activists, including many in their early 20s with scant memories of the dictatorship, pushed successfully to legalize same-sex unions, despite some resistance from the Roman Catholic Church, of which some 90 percent of Argentines are members. Argentina's House of Representatives is expected to vote in the next few days on a new national law to extend health benefits to gay couples, with some members of the governing Peronist Party pledging their support.

Argentina's more liberal treatment of sexual orientation on television has also stoked acceptance. Florencia De La Vega, a transsexual actress, made a splash when she played a transvestite in the 2004 soap opera "Los Roldán." A year later, the television dating show "12 Corazones - Especial," became the first in the county to exclusively feature gay men - who kissed on camera.

Yet even as popular culture and the same-sex law have raised acceptance, visitors still complain of homophobic treatment, said Marcelo Suntheim, secretary of the Community of Homosexuals in Argentina, an activist group. He said the group received three complaints this year from gay couples who said that hotel concierges in Buenos Aires "asked them not to kiss in the lobby because children were present."

In this way, some locals are hopeful that the new Axel Hotel will offer another place where same-sex couples can feel more comfortable. The hotel, which has billed itself as "hetero-friendly," is the second gay-themed hotel to be built by Juan Juliá, a 37-year-old entrepreneur from Barcelona, where the first Axel opened three years ago. He chose Buenos Aires after considering Rio de Janeiro; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and a host of European capitals.

The Axel emphasizes both openness and a fun spirit. From the lobby area, guests look up and can see swimmers slithering about in a rooftop pool with a glass bottom. The 48 rooms feature amenities like a glass shower right next to the bed. Instead of the traditional "Do Not Disturb" sign is one that reads "Please Disturb."

Condoms - with packages reading "Enjoy!" in both English and Spanish, are also supplied. "We provide everything for you to have fun," said Juliá. "Be safe, but have fun."

He said he hopes the hotel becomes popular not only with tourists, but with local Argentines who will see it as a place to socialize.

"The majority of the gay community is looking more and more for hetero-friendly places," said Luciano Fus, a 29 year-old translator who watched the drag show. "But this will be another after-work spot."

Urbides said he would "definitely come back." He smiled. "Especially if the hotel brings Madonna back to Buenos Aires, or better yet, if it brings Cher here."